New Milwaukee parking permits, camera checks raise privacy concerns

Big changes are in store for city residents who apply for a night parking permit: Introducing the virtual permit.

But the switch is raising some privacy concerns.

After Dec. 20, residents who need a permit will be asked to complete the same application process but instead of getting a physical permit displayed inside the car, residents will be issued a confirmation number to prove they purchased a permit.

To check on permit holders, the city has equipped Jeeps with cameras. City officials say the cameras can confirm the purchase of the night parking permit through the vehicle's license plates, identify vehicles that have been reported stolen and recognize vehicles with outstanding violations.

Aldermen who were briefed on the new system wondered how the information would be handled and who would have access to it.

"We don't want people who aren't cops having access to personal data based on license plates," Ald. Michael Murphy said.

Sandy Rusch Walton, a Department of Public Works spokeswoman, said a parking enforcement officer using the cameras would have no access to personal information regarding any parked vehicle.

"The computer in the enforcement Jeep will beep if someone's vehicle does not have a valid night parking permit or if the vehicle was reported stolen or if someone is a scofflaw or if someone is parked in excess of the posted time limits," she said. "The officer will then issue the parking citation after manually checking the license plate."

She said all data captured for each shift disappears from the screen after the parking enforcement officer's shift ends.

"After the shift, the captured license numbers will be limited to access only by parking enforcement management staff on the city server," Rusch Walton said. "No one else will have access to that information."

DPW officials say the Milwaukee Police Department will be able to request data.

Ghassan Korban, DPW commissioner, told aldermen that a policy could be imposed that would require a ranking officer to request the data.

"We will create safeguards," Korban said.

Chris Ahmuty, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said Wednesday that there appeared to be no firewall between the Department of Public Works and the Milwaukee Police Department.

"Allowing a ranking officer to ask for data is a lot like asking the intelligence community to ask the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for permission to conduct surveillance on innocent Americans — there are no checks and balances," he said.

Ahmuty suggested that police ought to have to get a warrant for parking data.

Ahmuty also wondered whether parking data would be matched with other databases and whether the information would be subject to open records requests.

The license plate data will be stored on a server for seven years, city officials say.

The city also won't sell the information to private businesses, Rusch Walton said. That is the city's policy.